Please enjoy the inaugural edition of our comprehensive e-newsletter designed to inform and inspire. E-news will be hitting your inbox on a monthly basis - full of IAIA campus, museum, events and alumni news.

An idea was born in the tumultuous 1960s: let Native Americans make the art they want to make. Let them be who they are, as individuals. Let them "be."

For almost 50 years since, Santa Fe has been home to the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA), the only four-year fine arts degree institution in the nation devoted to contemporary Native American and Alaska Native arts. Over the years, IAIA has grown and spun and morphed into a place where Native and non-Natives reach for a common goal: unbridled creative expression. Come practice THE ART OF BEING HUMAN with the students, prospective students, alumni and ardent fans of IAIA.

Learn more about what happens at IAIA and who makes it happen during an hour-long anthology of live performance and media. Experience the blending of an education of contemporary art with the art of education and a push to explore one's human boundaries. Be inspired to build your own creative traditions.

The event begins at 6:30 pm and is free to the public. Doors open at 6 pm.

Special guest: Rose B. Simpson, IAIA Alumna and current adjunct faculty member

A culmination of the museum's past three years of work come to fruition through an initiative called the "Vision Project." The project's goals were to explore and present the values, histories, aesthetics and contemporary stories that make contemporary Native art unique.

The Vision Project is currently exhibiting through December 31, 2011, Counting Coup, curated by Chief Curator, Ryan Rice; Rock & Roll Photo Coup by James Luna; and C. Maxx Stevens' Last Supper. In October we will release Manifestations: New Native Art Criticism, a major publication that highlights the work of sixty Native artists who continue to make central contributions to the contemporary arts field. Edited by Dr. Nancy Marie Mithlo, Manifestations will be for sale in the MoCNA Store. An educational curriculum guide accompanies the book Manifestations: New Native Art Criticism and is currently available on our website for download at http://www.iaia.edu/museum/vision-project/

We are grateful to the Ford Foundation whose generous support made the Vision Project possible.

Student Life would like to welcome our new Activities Assistant, Blake Cute. Blake will be assisting Nocona Burgess, our Activities Coordinator. Activities have a busy month planned including: club recruitment, fishing, hiking, 3 on 3 basketball tournament and other fun activities. In other areas of Student Life, RA's will be attending the Rappin' Conference in Provo, UT on Oct. 14-16. Programs and events are scheduled throughout the year, beginning with "Susan Komen Penny Wars" on Oct. 1. The Family Housing Club recently had a successful breakfast burrito sale. Funds earned will enable the residents to plan future family events. AIHEC Student Congress will be meeting in Albuquerque October 24-26. The Marist Students will give a presentation on their time spent in Italy this past summer at the Community Gathering on October 26th. In Counseling, the Peoples Path program started on September 23rd and runs through December 2nd. Lastly, on September 23rd the Campus Intertribal Ceremonial Council hosted a, Sweat Lodge Work Day. Volunteers constructed two Sweat Lodges which will enable Sweats to be held more often.

We hope to see more Students as well as Staff and Faculty at our events and activities this year. Have a great semester!

The new Student Success Center will begin operating in October. This unique one-stop shop for students will bring multiple services together under the direction of Student Success Director Nena Martinez Anaya reporting to the Academic Dean. All services will be located in the Library Technology Center, which we now would like to call the Student Success Center. Services include: financial aid, scholarships, first year advising, student accounts, testing and placement, tutoring, ADA services, registrar, orientation, peer mentoring, and related academic support services. Computer Lab, ePortfolio and Library Services are also located in this building as part of our renewed focus on Student Success.

In November the Dean's office hopes to host four weekly lunch lectures. These will feature two faculty members reporting on their sabbaticals last year: Dana Chodzko, sculpture; Kim Parko, poet, artist and teacher of English. Math faculty Belin Tsinnajinnie will present on the findings of his doctoral research in math education for Native American and Hispanic youth. A panel of three IAIA scholars: Michelle McGeough, Museum Studies Chair, Ryan Rice, Chief Curator at MoCNA, and James Stevens, poet and Creative Writing faculty, will present on Native/Aboriginal queer identity. The lunch lecture series is free and open to everyone.

The annual "Grad School Day" will be on the morning of Wednesday, November 5 for all IAIA students interested in attending graduate or professional schools following the completion of their Baccalaureate degrees.

Welcome to alumni e-news! Current information regarding alumni, call for artists, alumni updates and events will continue to be sent out bi-weekly directly to the alumni email list so please continue to check your emails. Keep in touch by friending the Institute of American Indian Arts Alumni page on Facebook and email the alumni office to remain in touch with IAIA.

Calling all alumni! Let's start the IAIA Alumni Association - created by alumni for alumni! Alumni play a vital role within IAIA - get involved to establish your Alumni Association! There are a few committed volunteers, but we need more. Won't you be a part of this exciting time? All Alumni interested please contact Marita Hinds at 505-424-5704 or mhinds@iaia.edu

The Center for Lifelong Education engages in outreach and extension services in the areas of education, agriculture, community and family, health and wellness, cultural tourism, and tribal governance. Our programs are supported by grants from the USDA, W.K. Kellogg Foundation, the Marguerite Casey Foundation, OptumHealth of New Mexico, the New Mexico Community Foundation, and support from tribal and private donations.

"There's a lot of talk about Native Artists making either traditional or contemporary work. I don't think the two need be mutually exclusive. I think the best Native art is challenging and exciting but maintains close ties Native values and world views. And that's what IAIA ultimately gives it's students the tools to do."-- Brian Fleetwood

Group from the Student Success Conference.

around IAIA...

The Student Success Conference was a great success! The conference showcased an inspirational speaker Gyasi Ross who encouraged students to find their voice and share their art, stories and experiences. Dean Ann talked about current student enrollment and then groups were formed so we could hear from students how IAIA could improve retention rates and improve their experience on campus.

~IAIA is one of eight institutions to receive the Mentor Institution Grant Award from the Alliance for Equity in Higher Education. The $100,000 grants provide the opportunity for this community of colleges to share their expertise in retaining and graduating first-generation college students. The Alliance awardees were selected through a highly competitive process which focused on the strengths of these colleges that included a plan, effort and an implementation model representing a wide range of retention strategies and best practices. Successful strategies such as early outreach to high school students, summer enrichment programs, student orientation, first year seminars for entering students, family nights, and faculty/staff/student support sessions.

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The 2011 Annual Benefit Dinner and Art Auction - Vision Forward - raised more than $115,000 for student scholarships at IAIA. Guests enjoyed live and silent auctions - with representation from over 50 IAIA alumni - many from the 1990's. Special thanks to La Fonda on the Plaza for once again being a strong supporter of IAIA.

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The Gay, Straight Alliance Presents Art in the Raw - Expose Your Essence. Event is open and free to the public and will be held in the Primitive Edge Gallery October 6-21. Opening Reception is October 6th from 5pm-7pm. IAIA Music Club performances 5pm-6pm.

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IAIA and the Santa Fe Community College are collaborating to host the Ethical Metasmith's Organization's Radical Jewelry Makeover project from Oct 21 - Oct 28. The Radical Jewelry Makeover is a traveling community mining and recycling project that uses donated jewelry to create an alternative to mining and manufactured jewelry. The project offers artists an amazing opportunity to design and craft jewelry while generating awareness of the social and environmental impacts of mining and jewelry production. IAIA students, local jewelers and Alumni will take donated jewelry and create new jewelry pieces. The finished "Madeover" jewelry will be exhibited and auctioned at the Wheelwright Museum with the proceeds used to help cover costs of the RJM program. If you are interested in participating or donating old jewelry please contact Mark Herndon (940) 453-9449 or email him at mherndon@iaia.edu. Donations will be accepted at Marita Hinds office in the IAIA Academic and Administration Building. For more information on Radical Jewelry Makeover watch the promotional film: Radical Jewelry Makeover

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Support students of IAIA - make a gift to the student scholarship fund. Click here to make a secure online gift to ensure the education of our students.

For detailed information about how your gift makes a difference, please contact Kirsten Jasna at 505.424.2309 or kjasna@iaia.edu.

general info

IAIA's mission is to empower creativity and leadership in Native arts and cultures through higher education, lifelong learning and outreach.